Can we win it? YES WE CAN!!!!

It's a big call, but it's a good call.  Our Skytrans Cairns Taipans have absolutely everything going for them this afternoon as they go head to head with the New Zealand Breakers.  This is the only hurdle the team has yet to clear this season - beat the Breakers at home.

Cairns Taipans are a sensational unit working together right now towards a common goal.

The starting line up is strong; the bench is strong - there's no-one on that team right now that doesn't deserve the court time and everyone knows how to make it count.  Tait smashing 3 pointers, and Brebner's work under the hoop in the 2nd grand final is so confidence building; not to mention Dillon's defence, Ubaka's magic, Crosswhite's consistency, etc, etc, etc ad infinitum.  Oh, and did I mention Dorsey??? What about Dorsey!!!!  AMAZING.

This season has presented opportunity after opportunity for the team to dig deep and find out what they are really made of ... and the Perth Wildcats, the Adelaide 36rs and the Townsville Crocs all now know how it feels to get smashed at home.

Everyone that I have spoken to this week believes the Cairns boys can win and will win.

No pressure of course, we just know that YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Take the energy of last Sunday's home crowd with you when you hit the court today and ....

LET'S GO TAIPANS, LET'S GO.  Let's bring it home boys!



....royal wedding??? What royal wedding?  ONE HD is the only place to be, 5:30 tonight!!

Make a better choice!

My good friend Tegan (schoolteacher) was telling me a story recently of a child who needed to 'make a better choice'.  Her words, and what a great phrase!!  She asked him to do just that, and he did, because it made sense, and order returned to the classroom.

Children are highly intelligent, intuitively guided, individuals to whom we should listen and from whom we can learn a lot.

Children are happiest when they are communicating, at play, learning, outdoors breathing fresh air and laughing.  Toddlers laugh on average about 3,000 times a day and adults would be lucky to laugh 300 times a day.

In life, we are confronted every day with opportunities to make a better choice, and yet in our adult lives and minds every day we poison our bodies and our minds with the garbage that spews forth from all manner of advertising and marketing material that bombard the environment at every turn.  We have become numb to the true sensations of life by believing all that we are told, rather than feeling all that we know.

My challenge to you today - make a better choice.

If you think you should smoke a cigarette ... Make A Better Choice (MABC)
If you think McDonalds is a good option for lunch ... MABC
If you are thinking of putting your kid in front of Dora or Ben 10 on TV ... MABC
If you want to nit pick with your spouse about the way things get done ... MABC
If you are planning to poison your liver with gallons of booze ... MABC

I will never point a finger at a problem unless I am willing to lend a hand with a solution, so here are some better choices ...

Smokers - Go for a walk - no cigarette
Maccas Junkies - Go to the local markets and meet the green grocers - try their fresh produce
TV addicts - Have a conversation with your kids - brainstorm fun things to do together
Naggers - Tell your partner 3 things you absolutely LOVE about them
Drinkers - try water

I am an ex-smoker of 13 years - everyone CAN change, you simply need to want it enough.

There is always an alternative and if you can't find it, I humbly suggest that you might be focusing on the wrong things.

Today, live the best day of your life and make a better choice.

"The fortune is in the follow through"

This is something I heard this week on some material I was listening to by a wonderful man named Kurek Ashley.

Kurek is a Peak Performance coach and as part of a commitment that I made to my networking group I chose to review his Life Success Club CDs.  Let me start by saying how LUCKY I am to have been given this task.

Sometimes in life it's easy to see what is needed to achieve the goals you have set for yourself, and yet at the same time it seems almost impossible to reach those goals.  Kurek Ashley actually gives you the tools to make a real difference and not only hit your goals, but totally blow them out of the water and achieve more than you ever thought was possible.

I know this is true because this morning, after working yesterday from 5am I woke to a clean house (yes I HAPPILY cleaned it myself), sleeping children, contented pets and having taken two big steps towards spending more quality time with my patient and loving partner Stuart ... and still I had enough energy to be able to teach two 'exhilirating' and 'wonderful' (quotes from participants) Body Balance classes this morning.  WOW!!!!  Right now I'm feeling pretty good.

There were two tiny snippets of the material that I listened to that made the difference to what I achieved yesterday and what I had failed to achieve in the four days before.

1) "The fortune is in the follow through" -

I always know what has to be done, and yet I am able to procrastinate better than anyone I know and come up with an unlimited list of excuses for doing so.  Last night I took the Nike approach - just do it!  In my head I told myself that "I have more than enough time to achieve all that I want to today" and it worked.  I also recognised that doing the stuff that needed to be done, following through, would deliver on the promise that life makes, and enable me today to spend time with my children, spend time on my business and spend time with my partner.  The fortune - both personal and material - is in the follow through.

2) At the completion of a task ask 3 questions - firstly, what was great about it? secondly what could I do better; thirdly, how much did I improve this time on the last time.

You can apply these questions to any aspect of your life and it will deliver instant improvement.  Consider this - a 3.3% improvement every day over a month, is a 100% improvement in that month.

To get a better result in every aspect of your life these simple questions help you to focus on the positive - what have you done right and how can you make it even better; and then add momentum by celebrating the improvement by acknowledging it in measurable terms.

If you have a dream, and preferably a grand vision dream, then try these two small pieces of advice from Kurek Ashley every day and see if it makes a difference.  In 24 hours I feel amazing ... and that's with an average of 5 hours sleep a night for the past week; 2 children under the age of 5 and running my own business.

My grand vision goal this month ... to 'exhilirate' and energise 100 people in my Body Balance class ... when it feels this good, it's too good not to share.

The fortune is in the follow through - keep moving forward!

Power of the People!

So I've been pretty busy this past two weeks, having moved house and survived and extended period without internet and phone service in the office ... grrrrr!!!  And now, I am back.

The halt of technology did not halt the great march forward of the Twelve Week Challenge Team.  At the end of week 4 (last week), everyone had significant changes to weight, girth and body composition and with only one third of the program complete this creates a great vision of what can be achieved in the 8 weeks to come.

If you're wondering why a person would commit to 8 weeks of being advised on what to eat, how to think and how to exercise, let me share some of the feedback from the current team that might make it clear:

"My lazy 'ass' is killing me ... thank u I luv the feeling!" (Karen)
"Awesome wished we did one of those (boxing classes) every week" (Richard)
"Thanks for all your time and effort so far.  I am enjoying myself and starting to feel better which is really good" (Kerrie)
"I have fun at every workout!  I might turn up grumpy and not wanting to be there but always leave with a smile on my dial" (Liz)
"My chiropractor wants your card - he says whatever you're doing, keep doing it because it's working" (Greg)
"I had the best time with Simone today boxing" (Kerrie)
"I feel great after ViPR, I have so much energy" (Leigh)
"Your workouts rock!" (Stu)
"I can stay for boxing - yeehaa" (Rod)
"It feels good (to bench press 20kg) (Mark)
"That was heaps of fun.  I've had a great workout, and I'll definitely be here on Friday" (Trent)
"I feel really good, much clearer and more energy (Nyari)

There are so many reasons to take a 12 Week Challenge.  Only one of them is weight loss.  Each of the individuals on the current challenge has an individual reason for committing to the workouts, the food plans and the mental training.

For some it is to help focus them in their business; for some it is to make time for themselves; for some it is to improve a health condition - high blood pressure, hypothyroidism; or a physical challenge - scoliosis, patella femoral syndrome, sciatica, a permanently damaged bicep muscle; and for some it is to become stronger - physically, mentally and emotionally.

This challenge, now in it's fifth week is so much more than an exercise program to help you lose weight.  As the trainer leading the team, I too am on a journey, learning something new every day, every step of the way.

Stay tuned as we embark on Week 6 - I have a special celebration planned for the half way point, and am hopeful of being able to share some pictures of this with you.  In the meantime, check out the team at work, boxing it up at last Friday arvo's playout - if you look very closely ... they are smiling .... YEEEEHAAA!!!!

Trained or untrained ... there is no try!

Today's facebook question from the Cairns Taipans - "OK folks, what's your theory on our road demons?"

Well for me facebook doesn't give me quite enough room, so here's my response.

Let me start by saying that my 2.6yr old son is the biggest Taipans supporter in Cairns and lives, breathes, eats and sleeps Taipans and basketball.  At 2ft nothing he has the hoop set at 6ft and gets it in on average about 90% of the time.  (WOW!!!)  I am the second biggest fan and cannot shoot a hoop to save myself.  A few weeks ago I tried and achieved 5/50 from the free throw - woeful, to say the least.

What's the difference - my son practices with his basketball everyday in the morning and the afternoon, and he continues to practice, celebrating his success everytime the ball goes through the hoop, reinforcing that he can do it.  POSITIVITY PLUS!

Back to the Taipans, our local heros ....

People fulfil expectations, good or bad - it's a subconscious thing.  At home the team and the crowd expect a win, and usually we get it.  New Zealand Breakers are the exception - once -  ... but that' a whole other blog.

The public, Australia wide, have watched Taipans fail on the road for the past several years, and so now have an expectation of this, regardless of recent home game form.  Negative thought is a powerful tool.

And yet, Taipans SMASHED the Wildcats early in the season in Perth.

The public expectation for Taipans to fail on the road is currently higher than the Taipans expectation of themselves to succeed.  It's up to the players and the coaches to position themselves in the positive with the knowledge that so far this season they have beaten every team, with the exception of New Zealand.  The Breakers have some interesting tactics ... but like I've said already - that's a whole other blog.

I am a fitness trainer and this morning I have seen the power of the positive at work in the (extra)ordinary individuals that I trained. A 52 year old client could not do 4 reps of a chest press with 25kg; he came back to me about 4 minutes later and said, right let's try that again, I'm feeling strong.  He smashed out 8 solid reps with 35kg.  I knew he was trained to do it, he just need to remind himself of that and focus on the task at hand.

The greats have said it ...
"Can or cannot - there is no try" - Yoda in Empire Strikes Back
"Trained or untrained - there is no try" - Denzel Washington in Man on Fire

Taipans need to simply answer these questions before each game and focus on their goal - put the ball in the hoop.

Can you win - YES - you have defeated 90% of the teams in the league
Are you trained - YES - you are hardworking professionals that practice your craft
Do you believe you can do it .....?

I have my tickets for Friday night and am looking forward to another home court victory.

LET'S GO TAIPANS, LET'S GO!

Finding your motivation

This week I was searching for some motivational material to help me with a presentation I was making to 40 business leaders on Wednesday morning.   I had a great time searching and found some amazing clips on YouTube that really fit the bill.  There were two that hit me like a sledgehammer, so much so I want to share them with you.

Meet Ruth Frith.  At the age of 100 she is breaking records - what an inspiration!

And meet Nick Vujicec - there are no words for what watching this clip will do to you.  I finally understand the power of a positive paradigm.

Our lives are filled with highs and lows; challenges and rewards; and inevitably times of frustration, relief and celebration.

Our motivation comes from within.  All the talking in the world could not have got these two amazing individuals to do what they do nor achieve what they have, if they did not have the internal motivation to do so.

If you have a dream, be inspired by these people to find your own internal motivation.  If you have a challenge or a problem to solve that seems so big, be inspired by these people.

Borrow their words and make them your own ...

Just Try .... say "I love living life, I am happy" ... and finish strong, in everything that you do!

The power of goal setting!

If your goal is clear, the path to it will also be clear.  The more vivid the image you have of the achievement of your goal, the clearer that path becomes.

Can you remember a time when you absolutely, completely, totally had to have something?  There was no other option.  It might have been your first car.  It might have been a must have piece of jewellery or clothing.  It might have been the new release of your favourite rock band or a mint condition copy of a favourite collectors item comic book, or perhaps your first ever skiing holiday - there was no way I was giving that one up!!

The "NOs" from those around you were silenced by your absolute knowledge (yes, knowledge - not just belief) that you would achieve this thing.

Whatever it was, you knew what it looked like, what it cost, how it would feel to have it and hold it, and whenever you thought of it, you got excited; you felt energised and alive.  Do you know what I'm talking about?

Well, that was the experience of having a clear goal and focusing all your energies on achieving it.  Not having it was NEVER an option.

I am privileged to have two little people that I live with who remind me on a daily basis that if you are determined and you want something, then failure is not an option.

Goals in life, in love and in fitness are the same.  You must eliminate the options you don't like and get clear about what it is that you really want.  When the vision is clear it doesn't matter what obstacles come up, your brain will find ways to work over it, under it, around it, and most likely through it, to keep you on track to your vision.

Our brains are amazing.  They work in the positive.  Once you start wishing and hoping you bring in uncertainty and the brain gets confused.  Know that the hard work you do today and the efforts you make today move you closer to your clearly defined goal.  When your picture of your future is so clear it's easy to work out what fits and what doesn't.

The clarity of your envisioned goal will lead you forward.

See your future, believe in it and step steadfastly forward knowing that success is your only option.